Opinion

DAN GAINOR: From secretary of state to secretary of memes, Rubio wins over MAGA

Rubio has earned his many jobs in the Trump administration because he’s been reliable and successful

By Dan Gainor Fox News

Published February 17, 2026 5:00am EST | Updated February 17, 2026 6:08am EST

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The social media star of the Trump administration is naturally President Donald Trump. What’s surprising is the one who comes in second place — Secretary of State Marco Rubio. You can hardly visit an online platform without seeing our new secretary of memes, even more often than the memeworthy vice president. It will probably happen even more now that he is fresh off a major speech to the Munich Security Conference that Politico called part of "America’s charm offensive." 

Rubio has become such a social media celebrity that Trump bought into the fun. One Truth Social poster wrote that "Marco Rubio will be president of Cuba." Trump responded, "Sounds good to me!" That set in motion a regional freakout as Cuba’s communist government gets increasingly worried it will go the way of Venezuela.

But the No. 1 way Rubio is making his mark........

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